09 January 2015

Islam representatives condemn terrorist attack

Muslim organisations and scholars around the world have condemned the terrorist attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo. Commentators see the attack as an assault on modern Islam and criticise right-wing populists for trying to capitalise on the event.

Declaration of war on modern Islam

The brutal attack on the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo was also aimed at Islam, the Paris-based Moroccan author Tahar Ben Jelloun writes in the left-liberal daily Le Monde: "In crying 'Allah akbar', the killers were also acting against Islam and Muslims. This is a declaration of war on democracy, whose institutions and laws make republican Islam possible. … We must realise that this is not an isolated attack by a couple of vengeful thugs but a radical, evil attempt to prevent Muslims from living out their religion on secular soil while respecting the laws of the Republic. It is an attempt to isolate Muslims by making them enemies of France. For this reason we must all fight back, for we are all affected."

Allah would punish attackers without mercy

Allah would punish the murdering jihadists without mercy if he were alive, sociologist Ferenc Krémer writes on the left-liberal opinion portal Galamus: "Allah is dead, and Muhammad's words are gone with the wind. Allah didn't die because of the Paris attack; he was already dead when Osama bin Laden arrived on the scene. But if he were still alive he would mete out terrible punishment to those who kill innocent people in his name. And also to those who want to live like their ancestors did 1500 years ago. The unfathomable cruelties of the Islamic State are only possible because they are being committed by the zombie army of a dead god."

Muslim world has created terror

The attack in Paris is yet another example of the atrocities Muslims are capable of committing, the Kemalist daily Sözcü writes in anger: "After the attack those in government became uneasy and announced, as if they themselves were the perpetrators: 'In our religion there is no terror. Islam and terror are irreconcilable.' My brothers, terrorism is practised by Islamist organisations all over the world. ... They set off bombs, brandish weapons, hack off arms and heads, they kidnap and rape. ... Why is it that this lottery always falls on our religion? Because the Muslims have created an Islamic world that tolerates no criticism, and in which there is no freedom of thought or opinion - or any freedom at all for that matter. Everything is solved with blood, weapons and pressure. Women are considered third-class citizens and slaves. ... Power is held by anyone with a weapon in his hand. And all that just to implement the rules of Islam."

No recipe against new forms of terrorism

The security measures that have been developed since 9/11 in the fight against terror couldn't prevent the Paris attack, columnist Obvidiu Nahoi writes on the blog of the liberal-conservative daily Adevărul: "The violence in Paris belongs to the attacks of Generation 2.0 that bear the stamp of the Islamic State. The centralised system from the times of al-Qaeda, when the attacks were financed and authorised by a central body, seems to be a thing of the past. The [anti-terrorism] measures after 9/11 were successful even if they meant more intense monitoring of communications, bank transfers and so on. The attacks of the 2.0 generation are far more difficult to eliminate because they are carried out by perpetrators operating on their own, often acting spontaneously. ... Can methods be developed which not only listen in on communications networks but also penetrate people's minds?"

Le Pen hindering national unity in France

On the day after the attack on Charlie Hebdo, France's President François Hollande welcomed his rival Nicolas Sarkozy to the Elysée Palace in a gesture aimed at strengthening the country's unity. But that won't be easy, the left-liberal daily Tages-Anzeiger contends: "The first sour note came just a few hours after the attack, not surprisingly from the far-right Islamophobic Front National. Marie Le Pen said that while it's wrong to lump everything together, 'that must not be an excuse for inaction or ignoring reality.' ... And her father Jean-Marie quickly drew a correlation between terrorism and the 'mass immigration' that France has 'suffered' for several decades. Such statements could hinder Hollande's attempt to cement the factions and counteract polarisation in the country."

Extremists united in hatred of media

The deputy chairman of the right-wing populist AfD party, Alexander Gauland, said after the attack in Paris that it showed that all those who have ignored the people's fears of Islam were liars. Never before have Islamists and Islamophobics been so close to each other, the left-liberal daily Berliner Zeitung comments: "Gauland, who sees 'Pegida' as a natural ally for his AfD, has committed necrophilia in public. ... What they have in common [with the Islamists] is the hatred of the 'lying press' which the [Pegida] demonstrators give vent to Monday after Monday in Dresden. This selfsame hatred is what motivated the attackers, who were trying to silence the lying press. ... The bullets weren't just fired at journalists, they were also aimed at a brand of journalism that defends the spirit of freedom against all those whose thoughts are driven by resentment and whose feelings are driven by fear and hatred."